Three Little Words
by Bunny-sama
Summary: AU-Kagome was at an excuse for a job, barely making ends meet when she took the leap for somthing better. Problem was, everything around her seemed to go wrong. But could her misfortune turn out to be a blessing, or was it really a curse as she thought?
1. Fate is Cruel

Disclaimer: Inuyasha was created by Rumiko Takahashi... But, who's to say she wont put him to auction some day...hm.  
  
Notes: Well, I hope you enjoy this.. let me know what you think. n.n Bunny  
  
(and to any1 who read OTE.. no need to fret, it shall be finished momentarily...heh heh)  
  
**Three Little Words - Chapter 1: Fate is Cruel**

Kagome pushed the button over and over again in frustration. 'Damn it! I have to be on time for that interview! It's pouring rain outside... I'm already drenched, this would only make things ten times worse!' Finally the doors to the elevator opened. She stepped in with the two other people and pressed the button for level five. She sighed, tension loosened as she neared her goal. 'I have three more minutes to sign in before they'll kick me off the schedule... but, it looks like I'll be on time after all...'  
  
As the elevator moved up, she looked over at the other passengers. One was tall, about her age,  
with long silver hair that came down about his waist, which was hard to divine from the baggy clothes he wore. He had an expression of contentment, with a slight scowl. But aside from that,  
Kagome thought he looked fairly attractive. The other, was about her height with dark hair.  
Unlike his friend, he had a strange smirk on his face, and kept glancing over toward her. This made Kagome nervous.  
  
They were in between levels three and four, when the lights began to flicker. The elevator shook as it stopped abruptly. There was obviously a black-out from the storm, and she sunk into the corner of the elevator to sit it out. 'Damn storm! You're costing me my interview for the highest paying job available to me! Do the gods want me the work at McDonalds for the rest of my life!  
Oh lord, I see it now... lying in my grave... tombstone reads: 'Do you want fries with that.  
NOT. HAPPENING!...'  
  
Kagome was interrupted from her thoughts of grief when she heard someone move over to her.  
"Excuse me Miss," he took her hand from the elevator floor, "but, would you bare my child?"  
  
Kagome pulled her hand away, she couldn't seem to find words of disgust that would fit her situation. A smack was heard from behind him, and she saw the figure clutch his head. "Leave her alone Lech."  
  
"Come on Inuyasha! You don't have to watch. Just turn around or something." Another smack was heard. "Oy! And stop doing that..." He turned back to Kagome. "Now where were we?"  
  
This time Kagome got in a smack her self... and a hefty kick to the stomach... and a knock on his head with her unnaturally heavy purse... but in the end, the lech squirmed to the other side of the elevator, not attempting to grope her again as he'd done somewhere in between getting knocked upside the head and jabbed in the ribs...  
  
"Sorry about that... He's always a little 'off'..." This was 'Inuyasha's' voice... 'Wow, he sounds good too... NO KAGOME! You can't distract yourself like this, think 'interview'... Oh who am I kidding, I'm stuck in an elevator with a lech and the guy who saved me... well, sort of.'  
  
She held out her hand through the dark seclusion. "I'm Higurashi Kagome." Somehow he found her hand and shook it.  
  
"Inuyasha. Nice to meet you. Oh, and the lech is my buddy Miroku... don't mind him, he always does stuff like that." He pulled his hand away, and she heard him sit against the wall himself.  
  
'I wonder why these two were in a building like this... They don't seem like the type to work at a corporation... or even want to work here.' She turned the light on her watch to see the time. It was already five minutes past her dead-line. 'Oh well... I guess I'll have to try again next year'  
The company only offered positions to interns in college once a year... and she just missed her chance after waiting from all the others to try before her.  
  
"So, why were you here?" Kagome asked. She didn't know much of anything about the two other passengers, and figured that small-talk would at least give them something to do until the power came back.  
  
"Oh... um...I was supposed to meet with my dad here, but I seem to have been delayed if you haven't noticed... How about you?"  
  
"Oh, just some interview, I'm probably too late anyway..."  
  
"Feh. Stuff like this always seems to happen when you have something important to do... doesn't it?"  
  
"Yeah." Kagome let out a sigh. "I guess it does..."  
  
There was a awkward moment of silence, and all Kagome could think about was what he said.  
'Things do always seem to happen when you have something else to do... or maybe it's just that you don't notice them when your not so preoccupied...' She turned the light of her watch on again, and looked at the digital numbers.  
  
"What time is it?" Inuyasha asked, and Kagome glanced up at him (well where his voice came from anyway). His eyes. They were amber and stood out in the dark, reflecting off of the faint glow from her watch. She was mesmerized by the deep, amber colour. They were unlike anything she'd ever seen before. Normally she would have been afraid. I mean, some guy had glowing eyes like he was some kind of animal.. But for some reason they were... relaxing.  
  
She snapped out of the daze as the light turned off, and his eyes were no longer visible. "What?"  
  
"The time?"  
  
"Oh, right." She turned the light back on and looked at the time. They'd already spent fifteen minutes in the elevator... if it was taking them this long to get electricity back, then she might not make it to work. "It's 2:15."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Hey Inu. Weren't you supposed to be at your dads office, like a half hour ago?" Miroku crawled over to his friend, and sat on the other side of him.  
  
"Yeah... He's gonna kill me for this."  
  
"So, why were you so late?" Kagome added in. She was getting curious, and besides, if she was going to be stuck with these two, she'd have to find out SOMETHING about them.  
  
"Same reason as you... The storm."

**la la la la la blah blah blah la blah**  
  
"Lets see...Ooh! I'm thinking of a number from one to a billion, but it isn't in the three thousands or five hundreds.. What is it?"  
  
"..5,555,324.." Inuyasha's voice dripped with boredom as he let out a sigh and, for about the millionth time that hour, shifted to a more comfortable position on the elevator floor.  
  
"Hey, how'd you know?" Miroku on the other hand, in Kagome's opinion, had a little too much energy for being one of three people stuck in an elevator with no light or food.  
  
"It's the phone number you had customized on your cell. You know, "555-LECH"..feh."  
  
"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten it spelled that out." Kagome could nearly hear the perverted grin on his face as if he were aiming to muse 'and don't forget it'.  
  
But at that point, she could pretty much care less about what that hentai had to say. She had taken her heals off her aching feet, hiked up her skirt so she could sit cross-legged comfortably, and was now amusing herself by tapping tunes from 'Chicago' against the elevator wall. Small chat was over.. now they were all just plain bored.  
  
"Ooh.. ok ok, I have a better one! What's big, and hard, and full of-"  
  
"Kami! Miroku, just stop.. I DON'T need to hear that."  
  
"Heh heh.. and what exactly, my friend, are you implying by that?.. I was merely describing your air-filled head.."  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes, but stopped her tapping on the wall. It was beginning to get old and she didn't know how much longer she could go on in that hell-box. She began rummaging through her purse for a graham cracker or something when she felt a light tap on her leg. "Hey?"  
  
"Hmn?"  
  
"How long have we been in here?"  
  
Kagome clicked the light on her watch on again and saw that it was almost 4:00. But her eyes traveled into the depths of the elevator again, just as they seemed to every other time he asked.  
Maybe it was just because they'd been cooped up for what seemed like an eternity, or she just had a little too much to think about, but the guy who was questioning her seemed interesting. He was ignorant, rude, self-centered, and could be either a jerk or a priest if he wanted to. That's how she saw him anyway, but it always just could have been that their little island was a little too small, and they couldn't kick anyone off. Other than that, his friend was nice.. freaky.. but nice none the less.  
  
"Nearly two hours now."  
  
"Gah... that's all?" The exotic boy banged his head a little less than gently against the door of the elevator.  
  
"Ooh.. how bout this?-" Kagome threw a random object from her purse in the direction of Miroku and apparently hit him. "..Ow..."  
  
"I think.. that if we're stuck in here much longer, and we're about to starve.. we eat him first."  
  
Inuyasha let out a little laugh. "Can I kill him now?"  
  
"Heh heh.. I dun know bout you Inu.. but I wouldn't mind Lady Kagome here eating me... Just remember to suck out all the juices. He he he."  
  
"You know what," Kagome shook her head and covered her face wither her hands, even though they couldn't see her anyway through the dark. "I think I'd rather starve now."  
  
After a moment of Miroku's humming of the theme song to 'Speed Racer', Kagome heard Inuyasha stand up. "That's it!-"  
  
Just then the elevator shook in beginning to move again and he lost his balance, coming down on the elevator floor as the lights flickered on and off. Thing was, he'd fallen right down on Kagome who was in a relatively embarrassing position with him to say the least. To top it all off, it stopped at the forth floor, and a small group of people just stood there as the doors opened,  
revealing the site to some of the corporation's impatient employees.  
  
Kagome didn't think her face could have been any redder as she got off of the floor after he moved away from her, and took her shoes with her in leaving the elevator to the nice lounge area with marble floors and plush furniture to sit on. It wasn't the floor with her would-be interview,  
but after two hours had passed, she found it very unlikely that they'd give her the time of day with all the other people interested.  
  
The big window showed a nice view of the street, and she sat down on the couch right in front of it, looking out at the people who all had places to go, rushing threw the rain. She couldn't go back to Mc.Donalds... thing was, there was nowhere else to go.  
  
She slid her three inch heals back on her feet and fastened the small clasps, letting out a sigh. She could always try for a position at a department store? Perhaps.. but that wasn't in her career field,  
and the scholarship she had at Tokyo U wasn't quite covering all the bases. She needed a real job.  
  
Shrugging it off, she look one last look at the scene below her, then went back to the elevator doors and pressed the 'down' button, but instead disappeared through the door to the stairs after thinking about that for about five seconds, reconsidering.  
  
Ding. Something about that small sound she heard right before the door shut behind her summed up everything. '..Okay, one more flight upward, it couldn't be worse than getting stuck with those two morons again...'

**shoebadoop ba da la la**  
  
"Sheeze Inu! My back is aching here.. can't we slow down?"  
  
"Nope...you know my dad."  
  
"We were stuck on an elevator!"  
  
"Exactly.. we were already late, and he'll probably yell at me for being lazy and not taking the stairs.."  
  
Miroku didn't say anything, but nodded his head in agreement. It was true. Everything Inuyasha did seemed to be some kind of a problem with Mr.Sirosenshi. It was probably just because he didn't exactly favor handing the business over to his older son, and wanted Inu to not make any fatal mistakes after he built the major corporation from the ground up.  
  
The overpaid secretary outside of his father's office came into view as he continued walking quickly down the marble tiled hallway. "You're father has been waiting to see you-"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before. Just buzz me in Lady."  
  
"Hmph." She didn't say anything about his rude remark, but pressed the button that unlocked the office door from the outside and Inuyasha continued inside, Miroku opting to stay in the hall with the 'lovely assistant'.  
  
After the door was slammed behind him, Mr.Sirosenshi looked up from his desk of paperwork with a scowl on his face. "Oops." Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders at the loud bang and went over to his favorite leather chair in the office and sat down, putting up the reclining legs and taking a coke out of the ice box in the plush armrest.  
  
"Oops?.. Oops?.. Inuyasha Ookami Sirosenshi, is that ALL you have to say after arriving in my presence nearly two and a half hours after the time which I made clear you were to come at?"  
  
Inuyasha opened the coke, cringing as his middle name was used. He hated it. But other than that,  
he sat back and shrugged.. knowing very well he was about to set himself up. "I got stuck on the elevator." 'And here it comes...' He rolled his eyes as he mouthed the words at the same moment his father slurred them.  
  
"You should have taken the stairs!"  
  
He smirked, "Of course." Usually agreeing with his short tempered father was what got him to stop yelling, even if sometimes it only got him in deeper trouble.  
  
"Okay, enough time has been wasted here today. The whole reason I called you here was because I think you need to be more active in the company."  
  
Inuyasha's eyes went wide, not quite expecting that, but he wasn't interested. "What if I don't want to?" He rose an eyebrow as his father smiled at him and got a glint in his eyes.  
  
His father let out a relatively satisfied hum. "If you 'don't feel like it'.. Then I don't think I'll 'feel like' paying your tuition... or rent..." His eyes narrowed as he turned to face his son, moving around his oversized desk to snatch the Coke from his hands. "..and I do believe, that it would be a rather nasty surprise to find that your trust account can run dry."  
  
Inuyasha swallowed the lump that formed in the back of his throat. "So, what exactly would I be doing around here.. I mean, if I decide to go along with it." He knew he was backed into a corner,  
but it made him feel a little better thinking that he had an option to it all.  
  
"Oh.. I was thing along the lines of overseeing the interns for a start. Though I think you should have to handle more than that if you'll be able to adjust to the corporate world... so since you know nothing about credentials that I'm aware of, I'll have an assistant be assigned to you. You can run the general operations floor. Not much goes on there.. but if you screw it up, it'll get to me before my company goes under." With that he gulped down the Coke himself and crushed the can in his hand.  
  
Inuyasha gritted his teeth. The idea of not sailing so smoothly through his laid back lifestyle wasn't exactly appealing. He'd never really had to work, and knew his tuition was a lot.. not to mention all the stuff he knew his dad did to keep him from being expelled. "..Fine."

**whoop a doop dee do**

Kagome exited the stairwell after going up one flight of stirs to the fifth floor. She had her folder of recommendations along with her application and revised portfolio. It didn't seem very impressive to her of the actual contents, but she'd heard a lot about needing to be prepared at interviews like this, and she hadn't wanted to chance it. Then again, if that was really true, she should have probably came an hour earlier and taken the stairs. 'Damn storm...'  
  
The waiting room was nearly empty as she approached the secretary's desk with a polite smile plastered on her face, one that the assistant returned with a little too much enthusiasm.  
"Koniichiwa Miss, how may I help you?"  
  
Letting out any nervousness she had, she placed the folder on the desk in front of her.  
"Unfortunately, I was held up by the storm in an elevator, and was wondering if there was any chance at ALL, that my interview might still be possible."  
  
The young woman at the desk just kept smiling up at Kagome like she had some kind of over-  
cheeriness syndrom, and took the folder, opening it up to look at the contents, nodding her head as if she were seeing things she liked on the papers. "Okay, well, since it doesn't seem to be your fault that you were delayed for your interview, I'll have my employer take a look at your credentials, though unfortunately his schedule is very busy and you wont get to meet him in person. Okay?" A smile lit her face again as she set Kagome's file on top of a stack at the side of her desk by a doughnut box.  
  
Kagome's face lit up that she might not have to die from minimum wage after all, and smiled more boldly back before tuning to head back to the stairwell. After all, there was no need to risk becoming prisoner to the storm again "Thank you." 'YES!'

**shah shah shee bang bang boo bum**

Mr.Sirosenshi strummed his fingers rhythmically on the desk, his nails clicking against the glass top. He was satisfied that his son had come to his senses and not refused his biding, but now it was more a matter of finding him an assistant whose head he wouldn't wind up ripping off. Or perhaps, he shouldn't have to worry about that at all. "Hmn.." He pushed a button on his phone and his assistant cheerily answered the line.  
  
"Yes Mr.Sirosenshi, how can I help you?"  
  
"Lily, please connect me to Sesshomarrou's line."  
  
"Right away sir."  
  
A brief moment of classical music playing in the background was heard before a couple droning rings and a click that showed his elder son had come onto the line. "What is it father?...Are you bored with golf and leisurely activities again?"  
  
He rolled his eyes as he stopped the strumming on the desk, adjusting his tone to a more business-like manner rather than just a father. "No, unfortunately for you. I have called on more business type matters."  
  
His sons voice was hollow, arrogant as it always was. "I'm listening." He was a prick.  
  
"It appears your brother has finally come around, and will be more involved in the company from now on. He will be running the general operations floor."  
  
"HALF-brother.. and are you sure he is fit for the operation-"  
  
"Just find him an assistant." With that he disconnected the line with his son, not caring to continue on their little 'small talk' routine when it always would end the same way. Yelling. He popped an asprin into his mouth and took a sip of water to wash it down.. '..it's for the best..it's for the best..' Though somehow, even in repeating that over and over in his head, images of his company burning to the ground and his two son still fighting in the middle of it all seemed to surface.  
  
Beep. "Lily.. please send in my masseuse."  
  
"Right away sir." Click.

**skiggly diggly da dow me mop we waaaaa**  
  
Rin watched from her desk as Sesshomarrou came storming angrily from his office, stopping at her desk to take a doughnut from the box. She smiled up at him with her usual super-cheer but it was all too obvious he wasn't exactly in the best of moods.  
  
He came around to the other side of the desk and began shuffling through the folders that had been on the corner of the desk for him from interviews. "These the interns?" He stopped flipping through them and set them back on the desk.  
  
"Yes they are sir. Oh and-"  
  
"Good. Who's this?" He didn't really wait for her to respond, just took the folder off the top and tossed it in her lap as she sat back from her computer. "Great, call her and tell her there's a position that just opened. Assistant of general operations." With that, he took his mug of coffee from off of the filing cabinet across the room and left to blow off some steam. He could have cared less as to who was the assistant to his half-brother. 'He'll screw up anyway.. anyone in that pile wont last a week...'  
  
Rin just watched as her employer left, and placed the file in front of her. ::Higurashi Kagome:  
She let out a sigh and dialed the girl's number, letting it ring before leaving a message on the machine.

**snap**

**crackly**

**pop**

Okay, that's the first chappy! Whew.. wow, ok.. that was longer than I thought it'd be. Hope you liked it, if not shrugs.. But either way please review and tell me what you think. I'll try to update soon. Dewa ashita.

()()  
(n.n) Bunny


	2. Could be Worse

Disclaimer: Diamonds might be a girls best friend.. but they aren't cute and fuzzy like Inu's ears... just not the same -sulks-  
  
Notes: Oh yeah, I might have failed to mention, Inuyasha still has his hair and beautiful eyes (though not so narrowly dilated), just because that's the way he is, and it tends to bore me when he's just average human Inuyasha... so -ahem- yeah. His other demonic traits would be at -zero-  
and his father and Sesshy have the silver hair too.. you know, keeping it in the family..heh.  
  
Other than that -shrugs- enjoy.  
  
**Three Little Words: Chapter 2 - Could Be Worse**

"I was impressed, there was less yelling than usual." Miroku had gone back into his less hyperactive state and was sipping a cup of coffee he had taken the liberty of pouring himself while Inuyasha had been 'chatting' with his father in the office.  
  
"Feh. I'm surprised you noticed with some bitch near-by." Inuyasha grumbled as he worked his way through the crowded sidewalk with Miroku trailing behind him, heading back to their apartment a few blocks away.  
  
"Inu. I'm hurt. Honestly, that statement will emotionally scar me. I would never think such things about a lovely creature under Buddha's watchful eye."  
  
"Oh, I get it.. You don't think on your actions then." A perverted smile lit his friend's face and he just rolled his eyes, wishing he hadn't said anything. "Actually, I don't want to know."  
  
They continued along the street and turned into the nice building complex where a lot of well established people chose to make residence, but Inuyasha had chosen it mostly just to piss them all off. "But seriously Inuyasha, what's with the job thing all of a sudden?"  
  
Inuyasha opened the door to the staircase, opting to not be stuck with some rich twit if the power decided to die again while he was in the stupid box. "Do you like our lifestyle?"  
  
"Uh.. yeah. It's comfy. If it were an inanimate object it would probably be all smooth and shiny.  
and might come with that new car smell and a freshly baked cookie...Though what that all has to do with a job, I know not."  
  
"Let's just say that if I didn't take the job, things would rust over real fast.. and no more cookies for about a year." Inuyasha could have banged his head against the wall for actually using his friends own questionable words in response.. but he just kept walking even as Miroku hesitated at the platform to their floor, shuddering.  
  
"I can't go a whole year without cookies man... Daddy needs his sugar, and if you have to have a job for me to get it, then by all means..."  
  
"..And here I thought you were an honest man of Buddha." The sarcasm dripped from his lips as he fiddled with his key to open the apartment door.  
  
Miroku grinned, but then made his eyes wide as though he were innocent, holding his hands up.  
"Oh, and what do you mean by that? I was merely proclaiming my love for the bitter-sweet morsels of delight that melt in my mouth."  
  
"Somehow... I don't want to know what you were describing just now."  
  
**ra ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta sheep buah buah an la la la  
**  
Kagome rummaged through her purse as she sat on the train, heading to the other side of town where her sorry excuse for an apartment building would hopefully still be standing. Finally managing to find her cell-phone in the mass of little items that were contained in the bag, she flipped it on, noticing that she had three messages.  
  
'Hmn.. Mom, work, and some other random one..' She shrugged if off and decided to just listen to them when she got home on the main machine. Exhaust had caught up with her, and at that moment a nice bagel and a nap seemed very appealing. Either that or throttling whatever god had ruined her main chance at a better life. Though that second option didn't seem as plausible, so as she left the station she bought a bagel in a nearby caf‚, smothered it with cream-cheese and threw her diet out the window.  
  
'Life is too short, and it not like I'm in Unemployment Nirvana...'  
  
She savored the bites of the bagel, and held what remained between her teeth as she fiddled with her keys to open the door, then kicked it in the bottom-left corner so it wouldn't jam when she went to open it. Keeping up the balancing act, she somehow managed to close the door behind her and lock it without choking on the bagel or tripping over her incredibly fat cat who was lounging right in from of the door. 'Ugh.. Buyou!'  
  
Setting down her purse and hanging up her keys on one of the hooks meant for pots hanging from the ceiling above her kitchenette, she pressed the button on her answering machine so she could listen to the messages as she made her way to the back room for the oh-so-tempting afternoon nap before her night classes at Tokyo U.  
  
[Beep. Message One: Kagome, this is your mother calling. I was just checking up to see how you were doing. Noticed there was a nice thunderstorm out your way, and wasn't exactly sure as to how your little apartment place was faring. Well, I only send my best, and your grandfather and Souta say hi. Remember, next weekend is his big game that you promised you'd attend. Gotta go,  
smells like something's burning in the kitchen, love you. Beep.]  
  
That was right, she'd nearly forgotten about Souta's baseball game. 'I'll have to add it on my calender...'  
  
[Beep. Message Two: Higurashi, I was very disappointed that you did not show up for your shift this afternoon without giving any cancellation notice. For that, it is unfortunate that I must inform you that it seems we must let you go. Good luck in the future.. You were a good employee.  
Beep.]  
  
'..Well, I saw that coming... And, No. I do not want any fucking fries with that...' Kagome flopped down on her bed and closed her eyes, willing the last message to just drone on so she could get some sleep after all that had gone on that day.  
  
[Beep. Message Three: Higurashi Kagome, this is Amori Rin from Siroshenshi-Com. I am regretful to inform you that you were not given the desired position of being chosen as one of our interns for this year.-  
  
Kagome's heart sunk, she buried her face in the pillow and willed it to all just go away.  
  
-Though, I am honored to inform you that another position has been opened, and would like to offer you the job of being Assistant of General Operations at out corporation.-  
  
Kagome stopped smothering herself with the pillow, and instead sat straight up, not sure if she was hearing correctly. '..a TITLED position?...'  
  
-If you are interested please contact me at the company's number, extension 35. Ja.. Beep. End of Messages.]  
  
Kagome had barely heard the rest of what the over cheery secretary had had to say in the message. She had jumped to her feet and was dancing around the room with some kind of new-  
found energy, jumping up and down on her bed and such.  
  
Reaching down to pick up her fat cat who wandered in the room, she began to swing him around in her arms. "Guess what Buyou.. I have a job.." Her mind wandered as she set the petrified animal down, falling back against the fluffy mattress with a smile on her face. "..a real job.."  
  
**woop a doop tee tee sha mo**  
  
Sesshomarrou sat idly in the uptown coffee shop, sipping his overpriced mocha-chino with extra foam, thumbing through the boring business magazine he'd bought at a stand a couple blocks away. The statistics didn't impress him, as they were all fairly inaccurate. He should know, after all, it had been he who shaped them for the past few years or so when his father had promoted him.  
  
He didn't think very highly of the man everyone referred to as Sirosenshi. In his opinion, his father's priorities were way out of line. Well, that and the fact that he seemed to be blinded in the well-being of his corporation, somehow favoring to pass it onto his bastard of a son and Sesshomarrou's own half-brother.  
  
He took the last sip of the warm liquid from his mug and closed the magazine, leaving it behind him on the table as he got up to leave the caf‚. The one thing other than a mocha-chino that brightened his mood was knowing how big of a screw up his 'little brother' was indeed. After tapping into his school files, it was only obvious that the brat wasn't cut out for the stress of the business world, and would, inevitably, ruin his opportunity within the first few weeks. That was of corse, taking into count that his father would stupidly cut him slack as he usually did, and that his new 'assistant' would have about as much experience as a hippo in the workplace.  
  
A small grin spread across Sesshomarrou's lips as he entered through the revolving doors at the entrance of Sirosenshi-Com. 'Yes.. my dear brother. It will be a pleasure working with you...' At least this way his father might come to his senses.. and then the business would be his as he'd intended from the day he had asked for a job there. "..Fun indeed."  
  
**ja ja je bee lindo be buaah  
**  
Inuyasha was thumbing through a Sports Illustrated while his microwave hummed in heating up his dinner of instant ramen. It seemed a bit cliche that someone with such a big trust account was practically living off of 'the poor man's meal' of college students, but it worked. That, and Inuyasha had developed a strange addiction to the inexpensive noodle dish.  
  
He was stirred from his skimming of the catalogue when a familiar ring-tone found his ears, and he clicked the button on his phone to answer. "Yo."  
  
"Hello, may I please speak to Sirosenshi Inuyasha." An overly cheery voice sounded on the other end, and Inuyasha knew it couldn't possibly be anyone other than his half-brother's secretary,  
Rin. At least he hoped it was her, because if there were many others with her kind of energy, he knew the world would be ending soon.  
  
"It's me Rin. Speak."  
  
"Oh good, I was hoping to catch you at home. I know you officially start work on Monday, but I figured you might want to know that the position for your assistant has been filled."  
  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the information. He didn't want to really work there, let alone did he care who his fucking assistant would be. "So?"  
  
"So... don't you think it would be a good idea to drop by sometime tomorrow and pick up her file. It might be good to know more about who you're working with before you start, don't you think."  
  
The microwave let off a beep and he glanced toward the inside, nearly drooling as the scent of his ramen reached his nose. "Right Rin. Whatever. I'll just see you on Monday..." Click.  
  
Rin just huffed on the other end of the line. She had only been trying to offer a small piece of advice for Inuyasha. She felt kind of bad that he'd been stuck with an intern, even if Kagome had seemed like a nice girl. But stopping at that thought, she decided Kagome deserved more condolences than the younger partner of the Corperation, after all, she was going to be stuck working for the jerk. 'Oy, this is giving me a headache..'  
  
**lu lu lay me muah muah muah  
**  
The young woman ran down the street with a newspaper over her head as the rain poured down ever harder. She was tired, hungry, and her favorite blazer was soaked though and she wasn't sure if even dry cleaning could save it at that point.  
  
Finally reaching her covered stoop, the woman dug into her pockets and purse searching for her key, letting out a stream of curses when she couldn't find it. "SHIT! Things just can't get worse can they?!"  
  
Just then a car drove by, hitting the puddle that had collected in front of her building, effectively soaking her from the splash. This just wasn't her day. No, it wasn't her decade. Ever since she had found her boyfriend cheating on her three months before with her best friend, lost her job,  
and faced the fact that her father was bisexual and had left her mother for some queer, everything had fallen apart. Yes, AFTER all of that, things fell apart.  
  
Letting out a sigh, she tossed the pasty paper aside and gave into the rain as it fell from the heavens, plopping down on her stoop not caring that her best business outfit was ruined, and her hair was now drenched and clinging to her face. She tried to think of who might have an extra key, but couldn't think of anyone who had one. Everyone had the old key copies, but she had changed over the locks when she'd broken up with her boyfriend.  
  
'So much for running home.' Collecting herself, she dug her cell phone out of her purse and dialed the number to the locksmith. She knew the number because her cousin ran it and had switched over her locks for her himself. "Koga?"  
  
"Yo."  
  
"I'm locked out, can you come by."  
  
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Fine, Sango... don't let it happen again."  
  
Sango rolled her eyes. As if she actually got locked out all the time. "I wont."  
  
"Be there in five. You owe me."  
  
"Whatever Koga, just hurry. I'm soaking wet out here."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a twist." There was a click as he disconnected before the droning dial-tone consumed the phone and Sango went to turn it off. She paused when she saw her 'messages' symbol blinking in the corner of the tiny screen... but decided to just listen to it once she got inside. It was from Sirosenshi Com where she'd just had an interview, and she really couldn't handle any more bad news just then.  
  
**bu dump dun dun dadump  
**  
Twenty minutes later, the jacked up, old, ford truck came screeching to a halt in front of Sango's building, and Koga came sliding out from within, carrying his handy-dandy bag of tools. Sango looked just about like death had taken her and spat her back up right on the porch, because since her call fifteen other cars had splashed her, and to add to it, she'd broken a heal when she had started pacing up and down the sidewalk.  
  
"Damn. You look like shit."  
  
Sango just glared up at her cousin from her seat on the bottom step of her stoop while he worked his way over to her door with his bag. Setting it down, he rummaged through it for a moment until he took out a long slender item. It looked like a thick wire, and had a small flat hook at the tip of it. He inserted the thingamabob into the keyhole and fiddled around for a moment. When he was done, he removed the whatchamacallit and opened the door.  
  
Sango stood up, thanked her cousin and headed inside, not really caring that she was leaving puddles of water in her wake. After making her way to the bedroom, she peeled off the layers of drenched clothing from her skin and tossed them in a plastic bag that she decided she'd take to the Laundromat first thing the next day. After finding a fluffy towel, Sango dried off and shrugged into some flannel sleep-pants and a tank top before making her way to the kitchen.  
  
She was just heating up her Lean Cuisine when she glanced over to her answering machine with the annoying red light blinking away, and remembered that she had a message waiting from Sirosenshi Com.  
  
'Well, not like I'll be shocked I didn't get picked after today...' With that thought she made her way over to the machine and hit the play button.  
  
[Beep. Message One: Konichiwa, Amori Sango. This is Sirosenshi Com letting you know that-  
  
**snap  
**  
**crackly**  
  
**pop  
**  
Okay, sorry it isn't quite as long as last chapter.. but it was a good place for me to stop. Heh heh,  
you may have wanted to keep reading.. but, uh... you'll just have to review, and wait for me to update again. Also, my thanks to Skitzoflame. -smiles- I always like the first people to review.  
and since I already had the majority of this chapter written, I updated like you wanted. n.n  
  
Ja matta ne. -Bunny 


	3. Are you Serious?

Disclaimer: If persistence is supposed to pay off, then how come Inu got a restraining order.. he's SUPPOSED to be mine. -grumbles- Rumiko...you better be good to him.  
  
Notes: -whistles- ok, I took some time on this to have the length better. After my first fic (which I should actually be working on instead of this right now) with shorter chapters, I understand why so many people update longer chapters less frequently... or something like that. Whateva, it's just easier. But, anyway, here it is. Enjoy - n.n - Bunny  
  
**Three Little Words: Chapter 3 - Are You Serious**

She was just heating up her Lean Cuisine when she glanced over to her answering machine with the annoying red light blinking away, and remembered that she had a message waiting from Sirosenshi Com.  
  
'Well, not like I'll be shocked I didn't get picked after today...' With that thought she made her way over to the machine and hit the play button.  
  
[Beep. Message One: Konichiwa, Amori Sango. This is Sirosenshi-Com letting you know that you were accepted to be a part of the select group of interns we will be accepting this year. Please give us a call back as soon as possible to give a confirmation that you received this information. If you do choose to accept out offer, the introduction ceremony will be this Monday at 10:00 am. Have a nice day. - Beep. End of Messages]  
  
Sango had stood grounded in place for who knows how long, completely stunned at what she had just heard. She had gotten the internship. Her life suddenly had a speck of light shining down into her abyss of darkness. Okay, so maybe she was thinking slightly over dramatically, but after the day she had just had, it was almost overwhelming to hear good news. A smile slowly graced her lips before a full out fool's grin adorned her face as she turned back to her Lean Cuisine...  
  
That had been several days ago, and Sango was just happily recalling that moment as she fitted herself with a new business suit she'd bought moments after tossing the plastic bag which was meant to go to the Laundromat into the trash can. Which was liberating to say the least.  
  
She finished off the grey and black pinstripe attire with some black leather sling backs she'd also bought after giving up on the lost battle of revitalizing the heals which had snapped on the sidewalk. Overall, she was now glad the rain killed her outfit. She felt more empowered than she had in the drab navy pant and blazer combo.  
  
Slinging her regular purse over her shoulder, Sango whistled a little tune as she left her apartment to call a cab. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and seemed a perfect match to her mood.  
  
**piddle paddle fa fa fey**  
  
Kagome rushed around her scrappy apartment like a bat out of hell. She had to resist the urge to scream in frustration as she hopped around the bathroom on one foot, attempting to shave her legs and brush her teeth at the same time.  
  
At some point that night the power had failed in her building, and her alarm clock hadn't gone off when it was supposed to. So she was now two hours behind what she had to do that morning,  
already decided to skip breakfast, and barely managed a decent shower.  
  
"Fuck!" The razor kicked her skin just below the knee and a small sliver of red could be seen forming as she nursed the spot with a salt stick. She hissed with pain at the contact, but the bleeding stopped before it could get ugly, and she finished up her rush job before bomb rushing her bedroom for some business attire.  
  
Ten minutes later and Kagome was decked out in black slacks with a lavender blouse and black pumps, her hair brushed and tamed enough to be forced into a hasty bun, and headed out the door. Glancing at her silver wristwatch, she noted that she should have just enough time to stop for a coffee at her usual vendor before climbing on the train to head across town.  
  
'Am I good or what?'  
  
It was two minutes to 9:00 when Kagome finally made it to the Sirosenshi-Com Complex, and smiled brightly as the woman at the front desk helped her to punch in for the day. "Thanks so much...?"  
  
The woman smiled and held out her hand to shake hers. "Kagura."  
  
Kagome took her hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you. Now, where exactly do I go from here?"  
  
The older woman smiled and scribbled something on a Post-It before handing it to Kagome.  
"Floor 5. End of the hall. Mr.Sirosenshi's office."  
  
A lump formed in the back of her throat at his name. Kagome didn't expect to meet him on her first day...she wasn't prepared!  
  
Kagura noted the panicked look that formed on the young girl's face and held in a laugh. "Not THE Mr.Srosenshi. It's his elder son, Sesshomarrou."  
  
The lump repressed slightly, recalling the name of the man she never got to interview with.  
Letting out a deep breath, she thanked Kagura for her help again and made her way over to the elevator, collecting herself as the hell-box moved up slowly. The doors opened at her floor and she stepped out onto the marble tiling, taking one last deep breath.  
  
"Here I go."  
  
**shang shang shang**  
  
Kagome nervously strummed her fingers on the arm of the chair as she sat in the waiting area where Rin had directed her so cheerily. While she had already gone through any worries left in her mind five hundred times, Kagome was beginning to suspect Rin was on drugs with the way she worked. Shuddering, she recalled the way Miroku had acted in the elevator. Hyper. That was it exactly...except, thankfully, Rin wasn't such a pervert. That was definitely a good thing.  
  
Several more endless minutes went by before a stunningly beautiful man entered the room. He was in a brown Burberry suit and had a long braid of silver hair hanging loosely to just below his waist, and had on a pair of wing-tipped shoes. Stopping briefly at Rin's desk, he absently took a doughnut from the box she seemed to keep stocked at the corner and picked up a folder that had been sitting next to it.  
  
He flipped the folder open, and Kagome noticed it was her file. The man glanced in her direction and Rin gestured for her to approach the desk.  
  
"Miss.Higurashi I presume?" The man had a deep, business voice and didn't hold out his hand to shake hers, but merely closed the file and slid it under his arm.  
  
"Hai. And you would be Mr.Sirosenshi then?" Kagome didn't challenge his greeting, but figured to play it safe and respond in his own terms.  
  
Sesshomarrou nodded both approval and answer as he turned from Rin's desk and unlocked the door to his own office, ushering Kagome inside to a chair opposite his mahogany desk. Sitting down in the plush leather chair, he opened her file once more and looked through her credentials more thoroughly, Kagome sitting quietly, wondering why he didn't already know it's contents since he had hired her.  
  
After a moment, Sesshomarrou closed the manilla folder once more and slid it to the corner of his desk to further examine later. Folding his hands neatly in front of him he turned his attention to the twenty-two year old student before him. "Miss.Higurashi, you have been hired for the position of Assistant of General Operations, and I can see why." It was a load of crap, because Sesshomarrou hadn't even been really looking at much of the information. He usually just did things like that to wear people's patients down or make them nervous. He would look through her file later, but he was pretty sure already that his brother would dig his own grave with or without her, and that she would be just as expendable.  
  
"Now, I have the honor of welcoming you to the family," he nearly gaged on the word he was forced to use, "of employees here at Sirosenshi-Com." Managing a slight business smile, he rose from his desk and shook her hand. "Now, if you will, please keep up as I show you to the Operations Floor where you can begin. Time is a horrible thing to waste. If you learn anything here today. Remember that."  
  
She nodded as he moved around his desk to leave the office with her in tow. She had learned just that fast that she probably should have been dreading to meet with Sesshomarrou just as much, if not more than when she had thought she was meeting with Sirosenshi. The entire time he had spoken, his voice was cold and purely business like. And Kagome was pretty sure that the smile he had forced just a moment before was probably the only one she'd ever see from him. No wonder Rin was so cheery. She had to make up for Mr.Ice here who was leading her to her doom.  
  
He lead her down a hallway, absently pointing to the staff lounge which was shared by the floor she'd be working, apparently level six, and his own, and continued to a wide stairway at roughly the midpoint of the hallway where he shook her hand one last time and told her that someone at Office 328 would be helping her get versed with her position..  
  
Going up the stairs, Kagome almost fainted in seeing how many people were already busily rushing around the space. Cubicles lined a large stretch to her right while office doors and open desks were to her left. To think she would be overseeing all of them was mind-blowing, and she was now glad she'd have the Manager of the floor to guide her.  
  
Slowly walking the stretch of the carpet aisle between the cubicles and offices, Kagome searched for the number 328. Toward the end of the aisle it was to her right, and it didn't seem like anyone was in the office, even the desk in front of it was empty of whoever was supposed to help her. Deciding she didn't really know what else to do, Kagome made her way over to the chair next to the desk and sat down to wait.  
  
Studying the surroundings of the area, she began to wonder how much work the secretary at the desk actually got done. It seemed everything from a manicure set and color TV to a box set of yoga tapes were cluttering the surface of the desk and filing cabinets most of the other workers seemed to use as side tables or plant stands.  
  
She was just about to start thumbing through a copy of Cosmo girl that was laying on the desk when a young man approached the desk, putting down a coffee and scone before turning to her with an apologetic look on his face. "Oh my god! Are you Higurashi Kagome?"  
  
Kagome smiled at the man, mostly trying to maintain composure as she took in his appearance,  
and nodded, holding out a hand for him to shake, which he took in his own well manicured hand.  
He was several inches taller than her, even with her heals, had sandy brown hair, and rhinestone earrings dangling from his ears that matched perfectly with his tight cashmere shirt and tope pants.  
  
"Please forgive me. What's a girl to do when the coffee bar has a line out her mother's alcoholic ass and back again." He held up Kagome's hand after he shook it, studying her nails. "Ooh,  
Honey, with cuticles like that it's a sin to not have any enamel on." He flashed a bright smile at her before moving around and sitting behind the desk. "I'm Hojou by the way. Wanna piece of my scone? Sorry again for being late. You must have been petrified."  
  
"Actually, I had to stop by the fifth floor first anyway, so it wasn't that big a deal." He pushed the Cosmo girl in Kagome's direction, having seen her eye it when he had walked up, and she started thumbing through it as they talked and he handed her a piece of scone.  
  
"Oh god. The fifth floor? Tell me you weren't stuck with the Man of Ice." Kagome just looked up at Hojou with a blank expression. "Oh gods, you were. You poor dear. I mean, Sesshomarrou knows his shit for being daddy's little man, but he is SO fucking cold. Dear god, even for that I'd be damned if he doesn't have one hell of a fine ass."  
  
Kagome thought about it for a moment and made a mental note to check it out later, letting out a laugh and starting to feel like Hojou was a highschool gal-pal. "I didn't really get much of look."  
  
Hojou just took the tip of his finger to his mouth before sticking it on his thigh and making a hissing sound. "Honey, before the end of the day you will know this office inside out and upside down if you stick with me. Hell, I have my boyfriend right in the mail-room. Everyone knows that right there is gossip central."  
  
Kagome let a grin grace her lips as she slouched back in the chair and rested her elbow on the edge of the desk. "Don't we get any work done here?"  
  
"Right, Sweety, you're new. I'll just give you the basics right here. FYI, I'll be damned if I haven't heard from at least a dozen different people, that's including Marge, Boey, and Blue Lue,  
that Sirosenshi's other son is the one who's going to be running our floor."  
  
Hojou shifted in his seat and took a nail file from his desk, crossed his legs and started filing as he filled Kagome in on more than was really necessary.  
  
"Now at first I thought it was a joke, but then Mr.Ice's fine ass came up himself and said he was changing my position from that boring shit-ass cubical to a open desk for the new manager. And Cookie I'll tell you, I've gotten twice the pay and not a tenth of the work coming my way after that was all said and done. That's why you were probably wondering what the hell was up with my space, I have to do something you know...  
  
"Well anyway, like I was saying, you were asking about work we'd be doing and if you aren't convinced just from what I've been up to, or rather NOT up to, then just consider this: it's his first day on the job, and he's already late. Either he's up in dear-ol-daddy's office, or he really is the brat he's made out to be." Hojou paused for a moment, like he was considering something.  
  
"Yeah, but I don't think that's really going to be a problem with me. As long as his ass is as fabulous as Mr.Ice's, you know."  
  
Kagome just smirked. Hojou was a trip, and while she wanted to give into the energy he was giving off about slack work, she couldn't help but listen to the voice into the back of her head as it screamed. The office was still kind of overwhelming, and she'd just found out that it was her boss's first day too. Not exactly inspiring when she'd found comfort in his supposed guidance.  
  
Hojou slid her a clipboard as he finished off his scone and pointed to the Hello Kitty clock he'd set up on the wall right next to the office door above his filing cabinet. "Sweets, it looks like you might be on your own for this one."  
  
Looking at the paper positioned in the clipboard, Kagome noticed it was a list of all the interns and where they would be working on the floor. She looked to Hojou in disbelief, who shrugged.  
"You've got to be kidding me! I just got here myself!" The paper said she was to meet them in the lobby at 10:15 after the introduction speech would be over, and it was already 9:55. "This isn't happening."  
  
Hojou just shrugged as he sipped his coffee. "That's the way the cookie crumbles. You are supposed to be the assistant, but when boss-boy isn't around... it's you who takes his place. Even in the beginning apparently."  
  
Kagome grimaced as she looked at her clipboard and then the clock. Well, the pressure was on.  
and she wasn't about to seem unqualified on her first day. She had fifteen minutes to prepare herself, and she'd be damned if she didn't at least fake her way through the introduction after she'd barely scraped the job in the first place.  
  
She was expendable. Life sucked.  
  
**bloop bloop blah bum**  
  
Miroku was up at 9:45 and wondering why the hell Inuyasha was still passed out on the couch as he made his way to the kitchenette to find some Pop Tarts for breakfast.  
  
Spash. It had taken one glance at the calender for him to change his path to the sink and fill up a glass with the ice cold water and toss the contents on his friend's sleeping face. "Bastard! What the fuck!" Inuyasha's eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he was ready to kill Miroku as he pealed himself off the couch.  
  
"Forgetting something?" Miroku just turned back to the bedrooms and threw some random clothes out into the main area where Inuyasha was still fuming. "You. Work."  
  
"What the fuck Lech?" A sudden realization crossed his face before a paniced glance at the clock on the wall, followed by a stream of curses and colorful phrases. He hurriedly changed cloths, not bothering to shower since he didn't really need it, and grabbed the Pop Tarts right out of Miroku's hands on the way out the door as he B-lined for the Sirosenshi-Com Complex down the street. 'My father is gonna kill me.'  
  
Miroku just stood in the dust of it all and grabbed another pack of the morning meal and sprawled out on the couch before clicking on the TV. '..Ah, to be blissfully unemployed.'  
  
**quee quee va voom  
**  
Kagome had managed to talk Hojou into showing her the areas she'd have to know for her introduction, and got introduced to some of the people there. Kagome was almost thankful they weren't as flamboyant as Hojou, and all the same agreed to help her fake her way through the introduction. She figured they felt bad for her that the younger Sirosenshi brother hadn't even shown up yet to take on his responsibility, but she didn't care just then if it was pity or bribery that would have gotten her some help.  
  
She ran over the list of workers in her head and finally decided she was ready to face the interns,  
and glancing at the clock it was almost time for them to be handed over to her. Kagome walked the carpet aisle to the elevator just left of the grand staircase and pressed the down button.  
  
In the back of her mind, she was hoping the brat would show up so he could be unprepared. And if he did, she sure as hell wouldn't help him. That's what she told herself anyway.  
  
Sitting down toward the back when she reached the lobby, she listened as Sesshomarrou was concluding his speech, slightly nodding in her direction with acknowledgment as she entered.  
She nodded back and tuned out what it was he was saying, but attempted a look at his ass behind the podium with no luck.  
  
After the next speaker approached the podium with a droning voice, her eyes began to scan the group of interns, making mental notes of how well they were paying attention. Somehow her eyes strayed to the main entrance and was shocked to see Inuyasha burst in through the revolving doors, looking confused as anything.  
  
But then he composed himself and made his way over the back row to sit down, Kagome glancing at him and wondering what he was doing there. After all, his name wasn't on the internship papers that she saw. But maybe she'd missed it somehow.  
  
**ya ya ya ska doo**  
  
Inuyasha burst through the revolving doors, ready to make a mad dash through the building, but his eyes found the ceremony going on and he composed himself, taking a seat in the back as he figured they were the interns his father had been talking about. Glancing around, they all looked like fruit cake, fresh with no direction. But his eyes came to the back row last, and he saw Kagome sitting toward the end on the other side.  
  
'Hmn, if she's an intern at least things might be interesting around here...'  
  
He was drawn from his daze as he heard his brother's icy voice announce his name. "Sirosenshi Inuyasha, the new Manager of General Operations! Come on up."  
  
A lump formed in the back of his throat as he stood and made his way to the stage.  
  
**skiddily diddly doo  
**  
'Sirosenshi Inuysaha? What the fuck?!' But as she saw the exotic boy make his way to the stage she wanted to slam her head into the wall in for not noticing the same gorgeous silver hair both of the Sirosenshi brothers shared right away.  
  
"And the Assistant Manager of General Operations, please come up as well Higurashi Kagome."  
  
All Kagome knew was that she was getting a headache. She stood, plastering on a fake smile as the claps echoed through the lobby and she made her way to the stage to stand next to Inuyasha after shaking hands with the other speakers.  
  
**gah gah blah boo**  
  
'Assistant?! He has got to be kidding me! I was already stuck with that bitch for over two hours in this building, no way they stuck her with me for this fucking job!'  
  
He exchanged glances with his brother who had a satisfied smirk on his face, and just glared back. He knew his brother didn't want him there just as much as he didn't himself, but there was no way he'd let the bastard win. So for that, he plastered on a smile and approached the podium,  
urging Kagome to as well and glancing at the clipboard she held.  
  
He'd bullshit his way through this mess if he had to. Just like school...  
  
**la de da ca thunk**  
  
Inuyahsa stepped up the podium and motioned for her to follow his lead, and Kagome wondered what he had up his sleeve, but figured she'd go with it.  
  
"Welcome, coworkers, partners, and interns, to this wonderful day at Sirosenshi-Com. For this is the day when a new passage shall open at this fine company. Not only has another Sirosenshi joined the family of workers, but all of you as well. And it is you, the people coming in from the outside with new ideas and concepts, that makes this company so great."  
  
Kagome wanted to burst out laughing at his speech. He sounded like a candidate for presidency without a cause but selling himself all the same. She didn't know weather to be impressed or disgusted, but figured she'd take over from there, not caring to hear any more of it.  
  
"If you would, please follow us as we guide you into the General Operation's floor, and you can begin shaping your futures, and this company's. For time is a valuable thing. If you learn one thing here today, remember that." She received various gestures of praise as she and Inuyasha left the stage from the other people, but didn't dwell on it. Hell, she was shitting the job just as much as he was!  
  
One last glance to the stage as the group of interns followed her and Inuyasha to the elevator got her a glance at Mr.Ice's back side as he stood discussing something with the other partners. She added a mental '_Damn_!' and resisted licking her lips.  
  
Now was the hard part. She had to get the right people to the right places and figure out a way to curse out Inuyasha without getting fired. It was going to be a long day...  
  
**snap**  
  
**crackly**  
  
**pop**  
  
Okay, my apologies if it wasn't as funny as the first two chapters, but it's one of those transition chapters. Heh heh, then again, there was Hojou -big smile-.  
  
Oh and Gyousei, I hope you found your answer in this chapter about Miroku. But who's to say he wont get bored without Inu around n.n  
  
Well, please review and let me know what you think! Reviewers are the best! Ja matta 

()()  
(n.n) -Bunny


	4. This Job Sucks

Disclaimer: Okay, between threats, stalking, and bribery, nothing has worked for me to get Inuyasha... I wont give up! I will have him! -laughs evilly-  
  
Notes: First and foremost I would like to bring it to everyone's attention that some asshole is going around and flaming for no apparent reason while they have the worst story I've every read,  
posted themselves. Here it is:  
  
**_jamiespear wrote - ur story is so stupid! gwet a life bitch! read my story it's smoo much better then urs! You rapist!  
_**  
I know it isn't just me that this person has said something like this to, because one of my friends/fellow writers was the first to complain in her story. As for the rapist and bitch statements... I wont even go there.  
  
ANYWAY, on with my story. I have more pleasant review responses at the end for the rest of you. Enjoy and review my wonderful readers! n.n - Bunny  
  
**Three Little Words: Chapter 4 - This Job Sucks**

Kagome glanced at the list of interns on her paper. She had already successfully gotten Hiten and Trish to the copy-room, and Duncan, Ivy, and Leo to the stock area without many problems. Now the only people who remained were Tara and Sango, who were supposed to be working an open desk for some person at office 326.  
  
Kagome pleasantly directed them to the desk two down from Hojou's before steaming over to Inuyasha's office, where he'd sneaked off to before she got the chance to stop him from the elevator. She just had her fingers grazing the doorknob when Hojou called her over to his desk where he was doing a paint-by-numbers of Cher.  
  
"Sweets, where have you been for the past half hour? You'll never believe what just happened."  
Kagome took in a deep breath and was about to brush him off until she was finished giving boss-boy a piece of her mind, but stopped dead in her tracks at the next comment Hojou uttered."Abby, on the fourth floor, said she came into the office late today and saw you and Mr.Fine up on stage and recognized him from a few days ago.. you know, from when that big storm hit."  
  
Kagome's mouth began to go dry as she turned her attention to the showy secretary. "Well anyway, Abby said she didn't know he was Sirosenshi's son at the time, but she'd been waiting for the elevator for decades because she's had surgery recently and couldn't take the stairs, and that Mr.YummyAss there was on top of some young thing when the doors opened, even with another guy in the elevator! Can you believe that?"  
  
Kagome resisted the urge to scream out in terror as she listened, and put a hand to her heart to make sure it was still beating. "Do they know who the girl was?" she somehow managed to speak, but needed to know if she could work there or if she should run screaming back to McDonalds where there was never much drama circulating.  
  
Hojou shook his head disappointedly as he dabbed some purple paint on the number 12s."No,  
Abby wasn't really paying attention. Apparently the poor thing hopped right off that elevator after going up and down, if you know what I mean."  
  
Alas, a ray of hope.  
  
"But then again, she said that Gail had been waiting with her that day and might know. Except that Gail's in the Florida Keys right now negotiating terms on a summer bungalow. Aint that a bitch?"  
  
Things were just getting better by the minute.  
  
Kagome smiled at Hojou and played off her nervousness by saying she had to go deal with "Mr.Up'n'Down" just then for leaving her to deal with all the interns by herself. Hojou waved her to go on and continued with his paint by numbers, now dabbing gold on the 3s.  
  
**wha wha woo bang  
**  
Sango wasn't particularly impressed during the introduction ceremony, but had to hold back a laugh as the manager and his assistant took the stage. It had been amusing to watch the exchange of emotions behind the podium, and even more so when Inu.Sirosenshi took off from the elevator like a dog with his tail between his legs after it was over.  
  
She and Tara had been the last of the interns to be stationed, so she had managed to catch a few words with the assistant as they went. Kagome seemed like a nice girl, and was actually younger than herself, but she could tell that Kagome was distracted with something so decided to chat later and get to work.  
  
That is, she would have gotten to work if it weren't for the fact that the person who was in office 326 hadn't shown up. That had left her and Tara to their own devices; and rather than wandering around the work area just then, they settled on playing a game of Spit with some cards that they found in the oak desk.  
  
Somehow, this wasn't how Sango had imaged a job at Sirosenshi-Com. But hey, who was she to complain?  
  
**fur frump ya wang doo  
**  
Inuyasha was sitting with his feet propped up on his applewood desk watching reruns of Monk when he heard his door open, and in glancing up he saw Kagome entering with a less than pleased look on her face.  
  
"Funny meeting you here." Her voice was flat as she made her way over to his desk and sat in the chair before it.  
  
"Ditto." He clicked off the television and slouched back as he switched his attention over to the woman in his office and grinned at her.  
  
"So, what's the deal? I thought you didn't work here."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "Yeah, and I didn't...It was after I got to that meeting with "Daddy Dearest"  
that he informed me I would be more active in the company."  
  
"Fun fun." Kagome decided to dismiss the fact that he hadn't mentioned that his "dear daddy"  
was the head of the company, just then. She had enough to deal with as it was with gossip flying around the building like wildfire about Inuyasha and the unknown girl in the elevator.  
  
"That's what I say."  
  
"So why did you accept?"  
  
"It was an ultimatum. Like I said, he 'informed' me I'd be more active in the company." Inuyasha began to strum his fingers on the desk, wondering what was with all the questions. But just figured after a moment she was probably uncomfortable working under him. (no pun intended)  
  
"Ah." Kagome smirked for a moment. "Is that why you punked out on the first day?"  
  
Inuyasha rose an eyebrow at the comment and stopped strumming his fingers. "Excuse me?"  
  
"The interns. You walked in, gave your bullshit speech, and left nothing but dust kicking in your wake after the elevador reached this floor."  
  
"Feh. I didn't cop out. I just had other things to do and figured you could handle it."  
  
Kagome just rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure Adrian Monk couldn't solve any murder cases without you watching." She smiled at his uncomfortable expression. "Admit it, you were scared of screwing up, cus you have no clue what you're doing in Daddy's corporation."  
  
"Hey! I am not scared of screwing up. I could take this business over with my eyes closed!"  
Inuyasha wanted to bang his head against the desk just after he realized he'd said it, damming his pride.  
  
Kagome just composed herself as she stood, not wanting the grin to take over her face until she left the office. "My mistake." She headed for the door and paused with her hand on the knob."Must have been some ultimatum if things are really so easy for you around here."  
  
Before he could stop her, Kaogme had disappeared out the door and closed it behind her on her way out.  
  
'Ugh... I'm going to have to deal with HER smart ass everyday form 9 to 5?!' Inuyasha let out a sigh, not wanting to really know if she would be a blessing or a curse. He'd already screwed up,and ditched the interns, and it was an easy call to make that she'd get him back for that. Not exactly a great start when he had no fucking clue what he was doing, and she was his assistant.  
  
Fabulous.  
  
**vroom vroom zoom za zam  
**  
After Kagome left Inuyasha's office, the tidings of Hojou's scone had worn well off, and her stomach groaned in protest to her decision of skipping breakfast that morning. Deciding that she deserved a caffeine boost, Kagome headed for the grand stairway to go to the staff lounge and help herself to some coffee, after which she might make her way over to Rin's desk and plead for a doughnut.  
  
Turning into the open doorway of level five, Kagome was almost surprised to see Sesshomarrou leaning back against the counter with the espresso machine, cup in hand. She smiled politely at him and made her way to the coffee pot a few feet away.  
  
"I wouldn't if I were you. That brew is rather vile this morning." Kagome looked over at him, her hand frozen halfway to the pot with her styrofoam cup in hand.  
  
"Then what would you suggest would take the edge off?"  
  
He didn't say anything, just motioned for her to hand him the flimsy disposable cup, and she did.  
After a few minutes tinkering with the espresso machine, he handed her a nice, foamy cup of hot caffeine. "It's a Turkish blend."  
  
Taking a sip, Kagome could have sworn she was near heaven, and the aroma was just spicy enough to make her relax with a fools grin on her face. "It's delicious."  
  
Sesshomarrou just gathered himself up, pitching his own empty cup into the trash and turned to leave, only pausing for a moment as he neared the door. "Nice speech this morning." And he was gone.  
  
Kagome let out a small laugh. He may be like ice, but she was starting to wonder if there was more to Sesshomarrou Sirosenshi. Hell, if he'd said his closing comment in a different tone, she could have sworn he was mocking her for using his line.  
  
Right...and Miroku was the Easter Bunny.  
  
After finishing the savory espresso, Kagome went the last little stretch down the hall and made her way over to Rin's desk. The over-cheery secretary was thrilled to see her and said she could have as many doughnuts as she wanted. But after considering her diet for a hot second, Kagome settled on just one to tide her over to lunch.  
  
She was making her way back down the hall to the stairway when the still-empty lounge caught her eye. It was like it was challenging her, the pot innocently sitting there across the room on the counter practically staring at her. A voice in her head was begging her to keep going down the hall and forget the damn coffee. But her less practical voice guided her into the lounge and over to where the coffee pot was.  
  
She eyed it suspiciously, taking a step away from it with narrow eyes as if she'd half expected something to come jumping out at her from the tantalizing brew. Deciding it was safe somehow,  
Kagome stepped closer again and looked down at the mocha substance from the opening at the top of the pot.  
  
She wanted to just trust Sesshomarrou and turn to head for the hills, but somehow she found herself pouring some of it into an empty cup. She swirled it around and gave it a whiff as if it were wine before downing the small sample of it without thinking... and immediately regretted it.  
  
Kagome rushed to the sink a few feet away and spat the foul liquid out, making gagging gestures and willing the aftertaste to go away to no avail. Leaving a trail of curses behind her, she B-lined for the stairs and prayed to the gods that Hojou would have something to make the lingering flavor go away.  
  
She was just ascending to the top of the grad stairway when a scream pierced her ears, and she decided that being responsible for all those people was going to be a real bitch.  
  
**rap a tap ta ta dee dum**  
  
Inuyasha had finally come out from hiding in his office and was walking around to make sure people were working. Or at least, walking around pretending he was doing something worth while when he couldn't really tell what everyone was supposed to be up to anyway.  
  
He was just finishing pacing a row of cubicles when he heard a shriek come from the copy room that was just ahead, and picked up his pace to see what was wrong. A bit taken aback at the sight,  
Inuyasha looked around the room for answers that no-one seemed to really have.  
  
There before him, were three people practically drenched in fresh black ink from the photo-copy machine, and practically frozen where they were as it dripped off them and formed an ominous puddle on the white tile floor.  
  
He just stopped himself from gaping at the mess no-one would expect to see everyday, or any day for that matter when a girl he barely recognized as an intern shouted out, "It was Hiten!" pointing at the young man next to her.  
  
The other intern turned angrily to the girl, wiping ink off of his face. "Was not! You were the one who was supposed to be reloading the ink!"  
  
"Yeah?! Well you were the one who said I was doing it wrong!" The two went at each other and Inuyasha barely noticed Kagome come up behind him as he took in what had happened.  
  
"And look what happened bitch!"  
  
The third person just slowly made his way to a clean patch of floor in the copy room and took off his inky shoes before quietly moving past them shaking his head and rubbing his temples,  
muttering under his breath, "I don't get payed enough for this."  
  
Inuyasha just turned to Kagome as she cringed at the two interns who were still yelling at each other. "You want to take this one?"  
  
She smiled maliciously and clapped him on the back. "But it's so much easier... for you." Then she turned and left the scene, leaving him to his own devices.  
  
Inuyasha just grimaced, knowing he deserved that, but dreaded facing the ink explosion by himself. "Shit."  
  
**teddy ed da yoop wee**  
  
Kagome walked away from the ink mess with a 90 watt smile and settled herself in the seat next to Hojou's desk which she was beginning to think of as her own.  
  
"Hmn, and what has you so smiley Missy?"  
  
Kagome turned to Hojou and rested her elbows on the end of his desk. "From what I could tell,  
two of the interns messed up the copy-machine and ink was everywhere. Surprisingly enough Inuyasha was already there while they screamed each other's heads off."  
  
"Tell me it did not get on his Armani shoes and ruin them."  
  
Kagome thought for a moment and figured Inu had been out of the way from the door. "Uh, yeah.  
I'm pretty sure he didn't get any on him."  
  
Hojou put a had to his heart. "Thank god! That would have been a sin in itself. No-one messes Armani on someone as fine as that." Pausing for a moment Hojou cringed his nose as he faced her. "Gods, what is that on your breath."  
  
Kagome sighed. "I had a fight with a batch of coffee, and the coffee won."  
  
Hojou just raised his eyebrows at her. "I can tell."  
  
"It tastes bad."  
  
"I have a mint."  
  
"Thank god!"  
  
**snap  
**  
**crackly  
**  
**pop  
**  
Okay, I guess I'll end it there. And here's the responses to your reviews::  
  
_Raifuno Maki_ - Hope you liked it... more is to come!  
  
_Gyousei_ - You are far from an idiot... I've done the same thing a few times myself. Other than that, I too, am blissfully unemployed, though kind of waiting for brokeness to come and slap me in the face at the same time... n.n'  
  
_Tsuna_ - Thanks for the compliment. one can only hope to get more reviews. And as for gay Hojou, I'm not exactly sure what inspired him, but it seems to have worked out nicely, right?  
  
_Pobbin_ - lmao. I actually did consider Jaken for Hojou's boyfriend, but you'll have to wait and see. As for the Kikyou issue.. I'm getting really tired of that played out drama. So either she wont be in it at all, or yea, she'll just be another character. Last but not least, I feel like it is almost impossible for me to write anything simple, and so it is inevitable that it should be a long story. My guess right now with this kind of chapter length, is between 20 and 30 chappys when it's done.  
  
_Shizuki_ - thanks for the compliments, and don't worry about Sango and Kouga's relation.. it's not important until later. n.-  
  
And to _Skitzoflame_, _Red Skyies_, and -coughs- _OTHERS_ who shall be unmentioned -wink wink-  
Thank you for your continued support and compliments.  
  
I all my reviewers rock -excet 4 da 1 mentioned at the beginning of the story- so please continue with it and hit the button at the bottom of the screen. 

()()  
(n.n) -Bunny


	5. Mistakes and Manicures

Disclaimer: -sets a trap- Hey, finders keepers. I'll check in the morning.  
  
Notes: I love the enthusiasm from all of you, but sometimes you just have to wait and see what happens. Hell, I'm thinking of half this stuff as I go and I got Hojou out of it (I admit it! He was originally going to be an intern! -gags-)  
  
Well, thanks to everyone again for reviewing, and I hope I can please you all again with this chapter. Enjoy! - Bunny  
  
**Three Little Words: Chapter 5 - Mistakes and Manicures**

By 12:30 Sango and Tara had become bored with cards and had wandered away from their desk,  
strangely enough to Hojou's, even though it was only two down from where they had been.  
  
Just then, though Sango couldn't recall exactly how it got to that point, she had her fingers soaking in the small basin of his manicure set and the three of them were all talking about whatever was on their minds, Sango just having finished recalling the bitter end of her latest relationship.  
  
"Oh Honey, don't worry about it. You're so much better off without that jerk." Hojou removed her fingers from the basin and started drying her hands off in a fluffy towel while Tara went through the box of nail enamel, looking for a good color.  
  
"I still can't believe it was your best friend who was spread eagle on your kitchen counter.  
Wasn't she engaged?" Tara picked an emerald green out from the box and held it in front of Sango's face. "How's this one?"  
  
Sango let out a sigh. "Yeah, the color's fine. And she WAS engaged, though I'm not sure if she was after what happened, you know."  
  
Hojou took the small glass bottle from Tara and shook it so the little beads clicked around inside.  
"I know exactly what you mean. I had this boyfriend, Ben, a few years ago. And I was all ready to move in with the bastard when my friend Moe caught him bent over with my Ex. Aint that a bitch?"  
  
Sango and Tara gave a collective gasp as he started painting Sango's nails and went on. "Well,  
all I know is that the bastard had the nerve to try and play it off like nothing happened. Ha!.. like he wasn't the one to pull his pants down."  
  
Tara just leaned back in her seat and absently flipped through the copy of People magazine a guy from the mail-room had brought by earlier. "It's always the same sad story. But I'll say this much, my favorite line is when they're all like 'it's not you, it's me.'" She put the back of her hand to her forehead dramatically before taking a sip of the chaser she had sitting on the desk.  
"And you know they're tripping, because if it really was them, you would've dropped their sorry ass a hot second ago."  
  
Sango and Hojou raised their own glasses with a free hand.  
  
"I hear that gurl." Hojou set his glass down and went back to his nail treatment.  
  
Sango just sat back smiling. "So true."  
  
It was at that moment Inuyasha had dragged himself back to his office, sore from having to clean up all the ink and scrub the copy room shiny by himself. He was greeted with a bitchy glare in his direction from the group as he passed them to get to his office, not particularly wanting to know what he'd done to deserve it.  
  
Best not to ask.  
  
**skiddy dippidy doo wat wa  
**  
When the mail had come at Hojou's desk, Kagome took it upon herself to do a few of the runs from the task-box, mostly just wanting to get around the building more and meet the people. It definitely was more work than she had first thought it would be, but she was getting the feel for it as she went on. The only thing she hoped for, was that Inuyasha wasn't slacking off back in his office again. If he was, she might have to think twice before taking work off his plate.  
  
Making her way back up to office 328, she was slightly surprised to see Sango and Tara chatting things up with Hojou at his desk as he worked on their nails, her own seat open and waiting for her to take a load off. And she did, but noting the drinks she rose and eyebrow at them. "Isn't it a little early for that?"  
  
Hojou just waved it off as he brushed the purple tinted acrylic on Tara's lavender french tips.  
"Cookie, it's never too early. Besides, nothing melts the stress away like a martini and a manicure." Of corse they weren't all drinking martinis, but it was the thought that counted, right?"Wanna join in?"  
  
Kagome thought for a moment, figuring it couldn't hurt, but a second glance at the paperwork still under her arm begged to differ. She smiled at the group of them. "I might take you up on that later. But is Inuyasha in his office?"  
  
Tara grinned. "Yes, he is." After turning to Hojou for a moment asking if she knew about the girl in the elevator, she added on, "and might just I say, Damn. How did you ever land that job?"  
  
It was clearly a rhetorical question so Kagome just thanked her, told the four of them they should do lunch when she was finished and headed into the office without bothering to knock.  
  
She's closed the door behind her, trying to hold onto the stack of papers, but nearly didn't when she turned around to face the office. There before her was Inuyasha topless, hunched over his desk and scrubbing away at his inky shirt intently, probably not even having noticed that she'd come in. His muscles looked nicely toned and smooth, and his long silver hair was pulled back loosely from his face. Not a bad sight, just not something she was prepared for just then.  
  
"Uh.." Kagome dumbly stared as she set the papers on a chair next to the door, and he glanced over her direction, jumping slightly when his eyes settled on her. "Sorry, maybe I should come back later."  
  
Inuyasha moved around his office, trying to figure out how to cover himself, but settled on folding his arms across his chest as he faced her. "No, not a bad time. What is it?"  
  
Kagome nodded, trying to remain calm as her eyes wanted to wander over him, and retrieved the papers from the chair. She spread a few different piles of papers over a open section of his desk and pointed to them as she explained what they were. "This one is your employment papers from Mr.Sirosenshi, this is the evaluation form from the Main Frame on what you think needs to be improved- but that isn't due until next week, and well, these are memos of meetings you need to attend over the next week."  
  
Inuyasha had sat on the front of the desk and looked down at the papers over his shoulder, not sure what to do first. Kagome saw his confused look and kind of felt bad for him, especially noting the inky mess of a shirt that was still laying open on the applewood, looking hopeless in itself.  
  
She smiled over at him, glancing between his confused face and the shirt. "You want to tell me about it?"  
  
Inuyasha just shook his head and cringed. "I'd rather not."  
  
Kagome let out a little laugh and turned to head back out the office so he could finish cleaning himself up. "If you want, I could help you through the papers after lunch."  
  
He nodded at her and let out a deep breath. "That would be great."  
  
She closed the door behind herself on the way out only to see all eyes on her, Tara's mouth agape along with the others'. "Was his shirt just off?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
**loop a doop za zoo  
**  
After lunch, the office was hell. Even Sango and Tara had to go back to their desk to sort out some of the back-up work that was piling up for their office worker who apparently wasn't working. Kagome had helped Inuyasha with some of his paperwork for a while, but even a hour in she had to go work out things on the floor he couldn't get to.  
  
It was exhausting to say the least.  
  
After dropping off the last of the papers and checking in with the interns, she was beat and her feet were sore in her heals. She turned from the copy room to head back to the comfy seat that awaited her just outside office 328 when a familiar voice reached her ears and she turned to see the older of the two Sirosenshi brothers standing at the top of the stairs. "Nice to see someone working around here."  
  
She smiled at him and adjusted the clipboard in her arms. "I would say the same, but I'm not exactly sure what you're doing."  
  
Sesshomarrou rose his eyebrows at her. "Indeed." He just looked at her for a moment with his cold eyes piecing through her before he turned back to the stairs calling back at her as he descended. "Well, don't let me keep you."  
  
Kagome took her cue and headed back toward Hojou's desk, wondering if he had a spritser lying around...because she sure as hell could use one right about then  
  
**pip pap nippy skip  
**  
Sesshomarrou sat back in his lavish leather chair rubbing his temples to sooth his growing migraine. It would figure that the one person out of the whole stack of interns who was even slightly qualified for a position at Sirosenshi-Com, would be the one he stuck with his nitwit of a half-brother.  
  
He had spent the good portion of his morning scrutinizing her file, and was torn between emotions in his findings. She had an academic scholarship to Tokyo University and was in the top ten percentile of her class. From her performance just that morning, he could tell she was organized and could at least improvise halfway decently under pressure.  
  
Under normal circumstances he would be thrilled to find someone like Higurashi Kagome and place her under management. But as his half brother's personal assistant, he had to be slightly more critical as to her significance.  
  
From mail-room gossip, plenty of things were already spreading about the younger Sirosenshi brother. But nothing indicated that he'd done anything particularly negative in his first day other than being over an hour late, which he'd even managed to clean up.  
  
Sesshomarrou pressed the call button on his phone and Rin answered with her usual energy.  
"Yes, Mr.Sirosenshi, how may I help you?"  
  
"Connect me with my father, I have something I wish to discuss with him."  
  
"Right away Sir."  
  
Hell, if Inuyasha didn't fuck up soon, things might not go over as smoothly as he first imagined.  
A grin spread over his face as the classical music played over his speaker phone. '..I suppose I'll just have to help things move along then...'  
  
**tat a tat rah bang bloop**  
  
Nothing was on TV, he'd done the laundry... then ironed it, and had just finished organizing the cabinets in the kitchen. It was too early to go out, and he was tired of being in. Even the free porn they got on cable failed to excite Miroku after so many cheesy pizza deliveries and hot tub moments.  
  
Something had just come over him, and it could only be one thing. Boredom.  
  
'Sheeze, this never happened when Inu was around...'  
  
Deciding he sounded like some housewife even in his inner monolog, Miroku grabbed his jacket and fled the apartment building, figuring he'd find something to keep him busy for a few hours.  
And amazingly, he didn't even mean 'someone'.. What was the world coming to?  
  
**gah ax ax we lax pah  
**  
Mr.Sirosenshi had listened to his elder son's briefing and found himself agreeing with every word of it. Something was wrong with this picture, he just didn't know what it was at that moment.  
  
"So, you think that by having Inuyasha involved in the Tasoni account it would boost our marketing and help him with his business endeavors all at once." It seemed reasonable though,  
but Sirosenshi remained skeptical.  
  
"Yes. As I've we've already found, they are practically tied to accepting our offer, or otherwise will be forced into bankruptcy and debt. Even a man as idiotic as Steven Tasoni could see that if he was blinded and unconscious."  
  
"Go on..."  
  
Sesshomarrou let out a sigh. His father could be a stubborn old prune sometimes. "Father, I am merely suggesting that we include Inuyasha, to see how well he does with a pitch. After all, there is a difference between someone who is worth billions in investments, and a low grade company with more...sentimental value, than anything else."  
  
He had a point. But dammit there had to be an alternative motive!  
  
After thinking about it for a moment, Sirosenshi couldn't come up with anything, but wasn't about to put his intuition aside so easily. "I'll think on it."  
  
"You have until tomorrow morning. The preliminary arrangements with Tasori begin Wednesday." Click.  
  
The dial-tone droned on from the other end of the line and Sirosenshi let out a stream of curses.  
THAT, was more like the Sesshomarrou he was used to. The prick gave HIM a deadline!  
  
He pressed the button on his phone and didn't wait for his secretary to respond before yelling. "I have a bastard for a fucking son, and he's one of my best damn employees!"  
  
"I'll send in some fresh scotch Sir."  
  
"Thank you Lily."  
  
**roo roo shampoo wa ya**  
  
Kagome was sitting back in the chair, enjoying the little umbrella drink Hojou had made for her as Manuel rubbed her shoulders and resisted falling asleep right there.  
  
"This feels amazing Manuel."  
  
"Isn't he a doll?" Hojou was reading out horoscopes from the newspaper as the Cuban continued the massage.  
  
Kagome smiled and tilted her head to face the secretary. "You know, if he wasn't gay, I'd be half tempted to keep him for myself."  
  
Manuel smiled, showing off his dimpled cheeks. "Oh stop." Glancing down at his watch he let out a groan. "Kagome, my dear I am sorry, but I must get back to work." He moved around and exchanged kisses with Kagome on both cheeks like the Italians do and blew a kiss to Hojou as he slowly walked away form the desk. "I'll take your love to the mail-room Cupcake."  
  
"You always do." Hojou blew a kiss back before settling back down at his desk and turned to Kagome. "Isn't he something?"  
  
"He's amazing with his hands, how long have you two been going out?"  
  
"Sweety, that is not my boyfriend. It's his second-cousin from Cuba. He just used to be a masseuse is all and I take advantage sometimes. I met my sweet-thang a month and a half ago when he was making a special delivery to my cubical. And Honey I'll tell you, that was some package."  
  
The two of them burst into a fit of giggles and hadn't noticed when Inuyasha opened the door to his office and stood in the doorway, slightly confused.  
  
"Uh... Do I really want to know?" This got their attention and the two workers turned in his direction.  
  
"Sorry Inuyasha, did you need something?" Kagome pushed the rest of her drink away from her,  
feeling she'd had enough in her already to last her the rest of the work day.  
  
"I just wanted to talk to you for a minute."  
  
"Alright, I'll be there in just a second."  
  
He turned and headed back into his lair as she helped Hojou to clean up the little mess they had made in their private little happy hour. Once she was done, Kagome made her way into the office, closing the door behind her.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I have a favor to ask of you."  
  
Gods, he already had her doing practically all of his task-work, helping him with his own damn paperwork, not to mention having dumped the interns on her that morning even after being late,  
what could he possibly have left for her to take? His whole fucking position?!  
  
She could only wish.  
  
"You know the mishaps that have been going on around here.. I mean, this floor?"  
  
"Yeah." Kagome raised an eyebrow, wondering where he was going with it.  
  
"Do you think maybe you could talk with them.. you know, sort things out?"  
  
"Uh... Inu, that was your mess. Besides, even if I did take it, then who would do all the other task work?"  
  
"I will."  
  
Kagome eyed him suspiciously. "You will?"  
  
"Yeah. If you take care of the ink mess, I'll take the task work."  
  
"YOU are going to do the task work?"  
  
"Uh.. sure."  
  
Kagome resisted the urge to laugh. "Inuyasha, you don't even know what to do for the task work!  
That's why I was taking care of it in the first place!"  
  
"I could figure it out." He huffed and was getting a little frustrated with the way she was being.  
Couldn't she just agree? It wasn't even that big a deal.  
  
"Why don't you just take care of the mishaps?"  
  
Okay. He couldn't take it anymore. "_BECAUSE THEY WONT LISTEN TO ME!_"  
  
Kagome looked at him, unbelieving, not sure weather to laugh or sympathize. "They wont?"  
  
"No... they said something about how wrong it was for me to 'leave you in the dust' this morning and blew me off. I even had to fucking clean the damn ink mess up myself. And, trust me, ink is not as easy to clean off tile as it might look."  
  
Kagome winced as he explained, figuring it was partially her fault for their response with the way she'd acted that morning in rushing to not screw up herself. In that moment, she realized she had to have had a hell of a lot better day than he did. Shit, she didn't have her dad breathing down her back and watching her every move.  
  
Biting her lip, her eyes dropped to the carpet before trailing back up to lock with his amber ones.  
"I have a better idea."  
  
**snap**  
  
**crackly**  
  
**pop  
**  
Okay. There it is, let me know what you think! Until next chapter - Bunny 


	6. Some Bright Idea

Disclaimer: -checks trap- God dammit! How come Jaken had to be the one to get caught, dumb toad! -throws youkai into the mysterious beyond- Hmnm.. I'll get him eventually, not yet! But at some point before the end of the world!!!  
  
Notes: Well, here it is, sorry for the wait. Chapter 6 already. Wow. And yet.. it's still only the beginning. What have I gotten myself into? -sighs- Well, enjoy. And review dammit, review! I will love all you readers forever if only you leave two words of acknowledgment for me to know you are all there and watching my every move. -thinks for a moment- Well, not my EVERY move. That would be creepy and stalker-like. But all the same. Enjoy. n.n -Bunny  
  
And a special thanx to _snookyboo_ (aka AO) for helping me with a few decisions on this fic and getting my muse back to write the rest of this chapter. -smiles-  
  
**Three Little Words: Chapter 6 - Some Bright Idea**

Kagome shuffled her way up the stairs of her apartment building that had miraculously survived another day. She kicked the bottom left corner of her door after she unlocked it and made her way inside, practically ripping her heals off as she got in the door. Sweet freedom.  
  
Her first day, overall, hadn't been as bad as it could have been. There was the initial shock that a guy she'd met in an elevator was now her boss, but after she got past that, it was just work.Actual work. Not some bullshit, smile at every other person and ask about fries kind of crap.  
  
The twenty-two year old made her way to her bedroom and shrugged out of the work clothes she'd dressed in that morning, replacing them with a comfy cotton robe as she went back to the main room, plopped down on her second-hand sofa with the foam puffing out from the seams,  
and clicked on her no-cable TV to relax.  
  
Life was good.  
  
**wee wee wa zang da dum**  
  
Miroku had aimlessly wandered the city for about an hour before he made his way into a random coffee shop. He had been there all afternoon, drunken at least seven mocha-lattes, an espresso,  
and two chai before getting so caffeine high the waiter cut him off.  
  
Noticing a pretty young woman enter the coffee shop, a grin crept over Miroku's face as he decided to have some fun rather than just sit around. Putting on a charming smile, he stood form his table and made his way over to the girl who had settled herself at another table across the shop.  
  
She looked up at him, slightly annoyed when he sat down at the other side of her table. "It seems such a shame for someone like yourself to have to come in and sit alone."  
  
"I'm sorry, can I help you?"  
  
"Fair maiden, if only you would have asked me first before stealing my breath away with your beauty."  
  
She rolled her eyes, looking toward the bar area, signaling for a waiter to come over. "Well, you can take it back and leave me alone now."  
  
The smirk formed on Miroku's lips again. "If you insist." With that, he rose up from his seat some and took her lips in his before she could stop him. After ending the quick kiss, he turned on heal and left the coffee shop with a full out grin on his face.  
  
Sango just sat fuming at her seat as the waiter finally came to the table. '...That jerk!'  
  
**fu fu pudding pie bah  
**  
After he got home from his first day working, Inuyasha was surprised how beat he felt. But he was even more surprised at how clean his and Miroku's apartment was. Shrugging it off, the young Sirosenshi made his way over to the kitchen and popped an instant ramen into the microwave before heading into his room to change out of the clothes he'd nearly ruined with ink.  
  
After emerging, more comfortable, his said room-mate walked in the door with a perverted grin on his face.  
  
"Well, I guess I don't have to ask what you were up to today."  
  
All he got in response was an innocent expression as if saying 'who, me?', and a can of Heineken tossed his way as Miroku dumped a bag of Funyons on the counter.  
  
Did they know how to life the life of luxury or what?  
  
**shibbidy du lat tat ta  
**  
A few blocks over from the expensive apartment complex, Sessomarrou sat in his office idly after having dismissed Rin from following suit of his long hours. His father still had not responded to his 'suggestion', and the whole ordeal wasn't sitting well with him. Deciding to try and figure out what was wrong, he opened his lap-top and turned it on to check on the Tasoni account for the fifth time that day.  
  
Still boring.  
  
The Tasoni account was hardly worth anything to Sirosenshi-com, except that it had several wealthy distributers affiliated with the owner, Steven. And even Steven himself was quite boring.  
The company had started with his great grandfather in 1976 Italy, and branched off into international trade with the second generation. But as soon as it was passed several more generations down, it appeared the Tasoni men weren't quite as smart as they should have been in their endeavors. Hell, to exchange power with Sirosenshi-Com would probably be the smartest move the company would have made in ages.  
  
Strumming his fingers over the mahogany desk, Sesshomarrou sat back in his leather chair,  
rubbing his temples to sooth the growing migraine he was getting. After a moment or so, he got up from his desk and left the office behind him the earliest he had since he'd signed on at the corporation.  
  
"I need a drink..."  
  
Making his way down the four flights of stairs, he punched out at the front desk where Kagura was still collecting her things together from the day, and left through the revolving doors, B-  
lining for a sports bar one block down with neon green lights blinking away.  
  
Three margaritas, a beer, and a martini Bond style later, and all his worries had melted away.  
  
**snicker doodle da da wa  
**  
Tuesday morning came all too quickly, and the assembly of workers somehow made their way back to Sirosenshi-Com where they did whatever it was they did in cubicles and offices on the various floors of the building. That is, apparently except for the Manager of General Operations,  
because by the time Kagome managed to work her way up to office number 328, the young Sirosenshi brother was nowhere to be found.  
  
Fabulous. Just what she needed... again.  
  
She sat down in her seat next to Hojou's desk and flipped through the morning memos that had been delivered only a few minutes before she had gotten there, and glanced up as the rococo secretary made his way over to the desk with a coffee cup in one hand, a muffin in the other, and a dazzling smile on his face.  
  
All in all, Kagome really didn't want to know what was in his coffee cup that morning.  
  
Hojou settled himself behind his desk and handed her a piece of the blueberry muffin absently,  
thumbing threw and issue of Vouge himself. Nothing particularly stressful seemed to come to the task pile yet that morning so Kagome decided to take care of the things so they wouldn't overwhelm her later on.  
  
It didn't take long to go through the few floors. Approving shipments of office supplies, checking in on the interns, and making a quick stop at the front desk to accept a fruit basket on Inuyasha's behalf were just about the most major things for her to do that morning.  
  
Once she had finished, Kagome wandered her way up to the fifth floor. She waved at Rin who was typing something on her computer and had looked up, smiling energetically like usual. But Kagome decided to talk later, because she didn't want the open doughnut box on her desk to betray her after she'd been a good girl and had a frozen waffle that morning.  
  
Making her way down the long hall, Kagome could have ran into the wall and not noticed as the scent of fresh coffee wafted over her. Thankfully she didn't, instead just made her way into the lounge as she reached it halfway.  
  
Glancing up as she entered the silent room, Kagome was surprised to see Sesshomarrou leaning back casually against the counter again, cup in hand. She nodded in his direction, and he nodded back in acknowledgment as she approached the coffee pot, her hand hesitating at the handle as the businessman spoke.  
  
"It's just like yesterdays. Filthy as ever. I really must find out who the insolent creature is who brews that coffee every morning."  
  
"Figures.."  
  
Letting out a defeated sigh, Kagome backed away from the coffee pot and turned to look at the other machines on the counters. She was just about to settle for a cup of tea when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, a steamy cup was placed in her hand by the elder Sirosenshi brother just before he tossed his empty cup into the trash and headed out of the lounge without another word.  
  
It had only happened twice so far, but this act seemed to be becoming a strange habit.  
  
Kagome shrugged off his attitude when she took a sip of the caramel-machiado he had handed her. It was another sip of heaven. But alas, she had to get back to the desk. If not to find out when Inuyasha finally decided to come in to work, but to keep up with what was going on along with Hojou.  
  
Gossip was exhausting.  
  
**eek eel ma meal blah burp**  
  
Inuyasha had woken up Tuesday morning to the annoying sound of his alarmclock. Half asleep,  
he attempted to turn the relentless thing off as his head began to ache from it's droning cries, to no avail. Getting a tad too irritated for the early hours, he ripped the digital clock out of the socket in the wall, and nearly screamed when it kept going off. Finally, through his sleepy stupor,  
he managed to turn the damn clock off and silence it before he would have thrown it out of his window.  
  
The young Siroshenshi would have normally rolled over and gone back to sleep, but a nagging voice in the back of his head begged to differ.  
  
"UGH! FINE, I'm up!"  
  
By 9:20 he was out the door decked out in black Gucci pants, and a red Versace silk shirt and tie combo with his Armani shoes and Rolex watch. Everything but a positive attitude. Sure Kagome's plan had worked the other day... but by getting respect, he had probably lost all hopes of getting on his employees' good sides. Hell, it would take something big around the office to do that.  
  
Letting his thought's dissipate, Inuyasha entered the corporate building through the revolving doors, ready for another day of hell.  
  
**yeddo skeddi shee shee bam**  
  
At the top floor of the corporate building, Sirosenshi paced the length of his lavish office as he thought over every possible thing that could go wrong if he agreed to let Inuyasha in on the Tasoni account. And being perfectly honest with himself. He was drawing a blank. In the long run, no matter what Sesshomarrou may have planned, there were more positive notions to Inuyasha's involvement than anything else.  
  
He finally made his way to his desk, and settled himself behind it, taking a deep breath before hitting the call button on his phone for his secretary.  
  
"Yes, Mr.Sirosenshi, how may I help you?"  
  
"Lily, please connect me to Sesshomarrou's line and have Alissa waiting for me when I'm done."  
  
"Your masseuse, Sir?"  
  
Sirosenshi took a sip of his Irish Coffee. "Yes Lily. That's the one."  
  
"I'm connecting you now Sir, and she'll be waiting."  
  
"Thank you Lily."  
  
The music had been changed from classical to salsa, and Sirosenshi's nerves were on end when it cut off to be replaced with the droning rings of his son's extension. As Sesshomarrou picked up,  
there was silence for a moment before he spoke.  
  
"Father."  
  
"Son."  
  
"Have you made your decision in regards to my proposition yesterday? After all, I have to turn in the forms this morning to be faxed over to Tasoni for the preliminaries."  
  
"Add his name on. And I don't want to hear you address me in such a manner again. You need not be reminded that this IS my company, not yours." Click. Sirosenshi disconnected the line and downed the rest of his Irish Coffee along with a happy pill as Lily buzzed Alissa into his office.  
  
Sometimes his success wasn't worth having his older son in the office. The little sluggard.  
  
**dum da da dum de de doo dally da**  
  
Kagome returned to the desk, surprised to find Inuyasha thumbing through a stack of papers as Hojou worked on a card house with Sango and Tara. She moved around boss-man and took her usual seat next to Hojou's desk and sipped on her caramel-machiado, looking over at them as the three decks piled up higher and higher.  
  
Just as Sango was about to put another card on the top of the unnaturally high card house, the phone rang on Hojou's desk, and the group of them jumped at the sudden noise, jostling the cards which collapsed on each other. Each of the three, glared at the others as if to blame them.  
  
After several rings, Hojou finally found the phone through the mess and picked it up. "Hello, this is Sirosenshi-Com's sexiest secretary, what can I do for you big boy? And I can do ANYTHING you want." Hojou was grinning from ear to ear, and mouthed 'Mr.Fine-Ass' to Kagome and the girls, who all burst into a fit of giggles while Inuyasha just glanced over at them and shook his head.  
  
There was a pause as Sesshomarrou said something to Hojou and his smile faltered as the secretary pouted. "Oh, you just want to talk to HIM." He held the phone out in Inuyasha's direction, rolling his eyes, and mouthing 'He'll come around one day', but then transferred the call to Inuyasha's line when he disappeared into his office.  
  
Hojou let out a sigh after placing the phone back in it's cradle. "Can't blame a gal for trying."  
  
They all burst into another fit of giggles again and Hojou joined them, laughing at his own boldness.  
  
"I can't believe you just said that!"  
  
**jad a doo bop pop po ra  
**  
Inuyasha made his way into the office where he settled behind the applewood desk and pushed the speaker phone button. "Speak."  
  
"Honestly, Inuyasha, must you always be so uncivilized?"  
  
"Just what do you want Sesshomarrou? Get it out already or I'm hanging up."  
  
"Well, half-brother, weather you hang up or not does not change the fact that you are to be involved in some business endeavors as of late."  
  
"What are you talking about? Dad put me up as Manager of Operations, not some other shit."  
  
"Indeed. But even our dear father seems to agree that it is in everyone's best interests for you to participate in the Tasoni account, since it appears you are next in line for the corporation's lead."  
  
"Look Sessh, if you want the damn company, you can have it. I didn't even wanna work here."  
  
The older brother let out a deep breath on the other end of the line. "If only it were that easy, it would be done. But for some reason, the man people around here call Sirosenshi is set against his company's success, and has instead favored your forthcoming. So, it is not by my choice alone that you are involved, but the one who holds your precious pay check in his pocket."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. Things just got brighter and brighter. "What do I have to do?"  
  
Sesshomarrou practically sneered across the phone. "Well, I suggest, for one, that you do your homework, and research the Tasoni Company we are aiming to merge with. You'll be aiming the preliminary pitch at tomorrow's meeting."  
  
"What about all my other work?"  
  
"Why don't you let your assistant take care of all of it. She should be qualified after all." Click.  
  
Yeah, that's exactly what he was gonna do.. right up there with catching fuzzy slippers raining from the sky on camera.  
  
He could never take care of the pitch himself. He was barely understanding his position as it was,  
and now his fucking half brother expected him to do this Tasoni account bullshit and the other stuff. Not only that, but he'd gotten his father to go along with it.  
  
Aint that a bitch?  
  
Kagome opened the door and entered his office just then, carrying a small stack of paperwork he had to fill out for Marketing. She noticed something was wrong as she approached the desk and kind of urged him to say something.  
  
"If you have an answer to this one, then I'll kiss Hojou's ass."  
  
r**oot toot al ta boo bum  
**  
Sesshomarrou sat back form his mahogany desk in contentment. Things were going rather smoothly, and he was pleased with his fathers decision. Just as he was about to continue on with his work, the phone on his desk let off a ring. On the third tone, he answered, his voice very hollow as he didn't bother to hide his annoyance.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
There was a pause on the other end of the line as the person prepared to say something. "I just wanted to thank you, personally, Sirosenshi, for your little bit of advice."  
  
"Indeed. Well, now that you have, I have other things I must attend to." He was just about to disconnect the line when the other person spoke again.  
  
"But don't you want to know who this is? What it is you've done for your company."  
  
Deciding he didn't want to play games, the businessman spat out his last comment before disconnecting. "I know who I am, and I do know, whoever you are, what I have done to get here." Click.  
  
He was just about to turn on his laptop when the phone rang again, and he answer only to be 'graced' by the same voice that was familiar, though he couldn't place it (and didn't care to).  
  
"Oh, Sirosenshi, but I really don't think you know."  
  
"Then by all means..elaborate."  
  
The malicious grin could practically be heard form the other end of the line as the man went silent for a moment. "Why don't you ask Steven Tasoni... Wait, or better yet, ask your fool of a father." He let out a small laugh of mockery and waited for Sesshomarrou to say something.  
  
"Who is this?"  
  
"I am merely a businessman, like yourself. Except, might I add, I have the advantage." Click.  
  
A droning dial-tone sounded form the phone as Sesshomarrou sat at his desk, wondering what exactly all of that had meant. But after his father barged into his office with a sour look on his face, and a paper in his hand printed from the Tasoni statistics, he understood, and the voice clicked in his head.  
  
It was Yutaka Naraku of Miasma-Corp, their largest competitor. And apparently he'd gained interest in Steven Tasoni's company overnight.  
  
**snap  
**  
**crackly  
**  
**pop  
**  
_k-chan_ - I may not be your pet, but I wouldn't be so sure about the insane part. Thanks for the compliment and welcome to my group of readers! -crowd cheers- yes you lucky peoples you.  
  
_Pobbin_ - -lets out a sigh- Seeing as you mentioned my mass of updates, I regretfully say that I usually only type so much like that when my muse is around and hitting me continuously. I say,  
"regretfully", because it seems to have run off on me, and even chapter five was more forced than anything particularly inspiring on my part. So, while I may have spoiled you readers a little bit,  
you might want to grasp that it wont be updated quite so often when my muse is gone, or once school starts back up and gets in my way...that or the bitch I call writers block -mumbles-  
  
_tyedyequeen_ - "Welcome," to you as well, and I hope you figured by now that the 'words' in bold are more for separation of scenes. Generally, I would use little stars, but for some reason, it wont let me, so I tried to fill the spot with something else that wouldn't be too confusing. If you want maybe I could start listing off things like current events, fun facts, or show-tune titles... discuss the weather. Heh heh, or I could just stick with the jibber jabber of meaningless things.  
  
Well, hope you all liked this chapter, even though I can't really tell and it could be a load of crap.  
But it's one of those points in between things where it's transitional... and not as funny. It'll come together pouts as reads leave  
  
**_Please review_** - Bunny 


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